The
atmospheric ingredients right now are ripe for some serious trouble.
Globally, the world is just starting to back away from the hottest
temperatures ever recorded. This never-before-seen heat plume, driven
on by a fossil-fuel abetted warming not seen in at least 115,000
years and an extreme El Nino combined, has loaded an unprecedented
amount of moisture into the Earth’s atmosphere. As
El Nino shifts toward La Nina and the Earth marginally cools, a
portion of this massive excess of water vapor is bound to fall out as
rain —
manifesting as terrible extreme precipitation episodes that can
result in serious trouble. A seemingly endless procession of freak
events that challenge the record books time and time again.

(Severe
flooding around the world this week includes the Houston area —
sections of which have essentially been crippled by 12-18 inches of
rainfall over the past 24 hours. In total, more than 1,200 water
rescues have been reported throughout the region. Many residents,
like the gentleman above, appear to have been shocked and surprised
by the flooding’s severity. Video source: Houston
ABC News.)

… the
Houston area was socked on Monday morning by a huge mesoscale
convective system (MCS) that drifted southeast across the area,
dumping eye-popping amounts of rain: 6” – 8” over central
Houston, with 12” – 18” common over the far western suburbs…
While individual thunderstorms often weaken after dark, the large
mass of thunderstorms that makes up an MCS will often persist
overnight and into the next morning, as the MCS cloud tops radiate
heat to space and instability is enhanced.

The
record single day rainfall total for Houston before today was 11.25
inches.
It appears likely that 11.75 inches recorded at Houston International
Airport today will mark a new daily high mark for a city that grew up
out of fossil fuel burning but now appears to be drowning in the
heat-intensified effluent. More to the point, most of Houston’s
western suburbs experienced what amounts to an entire typical
season’s worth of rainfall in just one 24 hour period.

(River
of moisture flows up from the Equator and Gulf of Mexico and into the
Houston region on Monday — spurring extreme rains that cripple the
city. A pair of doggedly persistent weather systems — a blocking
high to the east and an upper level low to the north contributed to
the extreme weather over Houston. Climate change related features
like record atmospheric moisture loading, and persistent ridge and
trough generation due to Jet Stream changes likely linked to record
low Arctic sea ice levels also likely influenced today’s severe
storms. Image source: LANCE
MODIS.)

Consistent
trough generation in the Jet Stream over the area (likely influenced
by record low Arctic sea ice coverage), consistent above average sea
surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, a strong moisture flow
from a record El Nino, and record global temperatures contributing to
high atmospheric moisture loadings all influenced severe storm
formation over this area during recent months. Sadly, it’s a spate
of severe weather that is likely to continue at least until the end
of Spring.

Over
4,500 people living along the Sukhona River in the Vologda region are
currently in danger, as thick ice has created a natural dam that is
preventing the river from traveling downstream, causing it to
overflow its banks.

Two
Su-34 jets took off from the Voronezh region in southwestern Russian
on Monday on a mission to drop precision-guided explosives onto the
frozen parts of the river in order to allow natural water flow to
resume.

The
warplanes were ordered to deploy explosives “every hour,” said
the head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, Vladimir Puchkov.

“We
just completed a flyby to once again look at the areas of the river
being blocked by ice … We looked at the condition of the flooded
territories. And using this information we will guide the latest
operations taking place,” TASS quoted Puchkov as saying.

There
are also two icebreakers nearby to break up the ice further.

In
the meantime, the Emergencies Ministry is working on rescuing people
in a number of danger zones.

Local
authorities are also using boats to deliver food and other supplies
to a number of towns and villages already affected by the flooding.

Other
areas in Russia experiencing a similar problem this year included the
Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Kurgan, Tomsk, and Kemerovo regions, according
to data provided by the ministry.

Just
a few months ago, Su-34 jets were being used by Russia in an
anti-terror operation against Islamic State (IS, previously
ISIS/ISIL) in Syria.

The
Su-34 model is one of the most modern aircraft in Russia’s military
arsenal. It began being developed in the mid-’80s as a replacement
for the Su-24, with the first batch of new warplanes being delivered
in 2006.

Unusual
heavy rains have poured down on the Middle East, causing flash floods
and resulting in the deaths of dozens of people.

Rains
and flooding killed 18 people throughout Saudi Arabia and 915 had to
be rescued from inside their vehicles, the General Directorate of
Saudi Civil Defence said on Thursday.

Floodwaters
inundated roadways in the capital Riyadh, Mecca, and the mountainous
south of the mostly desert kingdom, the directorate said in a
statement.

Videos
posted on social media showed cars submerged in water in the
southwestern city of Abha.

Heavy
rains lashed Saudi Arabia for several days and the education ministry
closed schools in and around the capital.

In
neighbouring Yemen, heavy rainfall in several parts of the country
caused widespread flooding that killed at least 16 people and caused
the collapse of small dams, including two in Hajja and Omran
provinces north of the capital, Sanaa, security officials and the
Interior Ministry said on Thursday.

Damage
to property was particularly heavy with rushing muddy water cutting
off roads and sweeping away cars and cattle, according to the
officials.

Besides
Hajja and Omran, unusually heavy rainfall over the past 24 hours has
also hit Sanaa and the southern port of Aden.

Iran's
state TV reported on Thursday that heavy precipitation in the
country's western and southwestern provinces resulted in flash floods
that killed two people.

The
wet weather continued in neighbouring Qatar, with heavy rains and
hail backed by a lightning storm.

Flash
floods sweeping Saudi Arabia for the past week has left more than a
dozen dead as the kingdom grapples with heavy downpours across the
country.

Saudi
Arabia’s civil defense agency said in a statement on Thursday that
at least 18 people were killed in the floods which struck areas
starting from the desert capital of Riyadh to Hail, Mecca,
Medina, Al-Baha, Asir, Najran and Jazan.

In
Badghis province, local spokesman Ahmad Khalid Safi says 19 people
died in Muqur district. And in Samangan province, spokesman Seddiq
Azizi says flash floods killed six people — three women and three
children — and damaged about 20 houses.

Santiago
in chaos: Millions left without water as flooding strikes Chile
capital

Severe
flooding has brought chaos to Santiago as heavy rains have been
battering the region since Friday. An estimated four million people
have been left without drinking water and, according to police
reports, at least one person has been killed as a result of the
floods so far. The capital was deluged after the Mapocho River
overflowed its banks for the first time in 30 years

Chile’s capital, Santiago, has been inundated by rains that caused the Mapocho River to breach its banks and flow into one of the city’s upbeat neighborhoods. The calamity has killed at least two people and left four million more short of water.